INNERWISH – Ash Of Eternal Flame

vote
7.0

• Bands:
  INNERWISH
• Duration: 01:07:37
• Available from: 01/11/2024
• Label:

• Reigning Phoenix Music

Streaming not yet available

Innerwish are a Greek band active since the mid-90s, which with “Ash Of Eternal Flame” reaches its sixth full-length, released eight years after the previous album. Compared to the latter, the new work, despite having been created with the exact same lineup, presents a slightly less varied and more homogeneous style, fundamentally built on a heavy music from the 1980s school, with influences such as Judas Priest, Crimson Glory, Dio, Queensrÿche, Riot, but which also takes power metal groups such as Stratovarius, Kamelot, Helloween, Masterplan, Rage and Blind Guardian as a reference.
Indeed, the song “Sea Of Lies” is decidedly inspired by the latter, where Hansi Kűrsch duets with singer George Eikosipentakis in a rather suggestive, powerful and melodic piece. In fact, these are precisely the main characteristics of Innerwish's style, where rocky riffs are accompanied by captivating refrains, with a fast and dynamic rhythm section.
Naturally, then there are songs where some elements emerge more than others: for example the verses of “Soul Asunder” are decidedly Priestian, while “Higher” and “Once Again” are pieces that tend to be more melodic; or, again, on “Primal Scream” and “The Hands Of Doom” the more symphonic side of the Hellenic band emerges.
As we also noticed in the review of the previous album, we cannot say that originality is Innerwish's strong point, but the Athenian group objectively manages to create rocky classic metal songs, with good songwriting, where everyone the elements are well balanced.
We also appreciated the lyrics, which range widely between mythology, history, personal relationships (for example “Higher” is dedicated by musicians to their children), fantasy, but also current affairs and social themes.
At the end of the tracklist, a cover of “Send Me An Angel” is also included, a beautiful song by Blackfoot, a historic American group that saw its most successful period in the early '80s.
In conclusion, “Ash Of Eternal Flame” is a good classic metal album, made by a band made up of experienced musicians, who know how to play heavy metal and who know how to bring out a lot of power and energy from their instruments, so it can be a pleasant listening for those who appreciate the genre.